The use of medical gowns, sterile coverings, and other similar clothing in medical or clinical settings is a familiar sight in hospitals, clinics, and doctor's offices. The function of such clothing is to prevent the transmission of fluids, microorganisms, chemicals, and other products from patients to medical personnel, and vice versa. For the purpose of maintaining sterility, such garments are usually preferred to have a continuous front portion with the closures appealing somewhere on the back of the garment, commonly at the neck and about the waist.
The traditional means for closing such garments is with ties that are usually fastened at the back of garment. Some medical garments have ties that are sufficiently long enough to be wound around the body and fastened or tied at the front. Other closure means used with disposable surgical gowns include buttons, hooks, tape, hook and loop belts, etc. However, these and other common closure methods take time and/or physical effort by the wearer to secure. In some instances, they can require assistance in closing the back of the gown because the wearer cannot reach the closure or to do so would contaminate sterile hands. Under extreme medical emergencies, medical personal have been known to simply insert their arms into the gown and pull it up over the shoulders to save time. However, the gown is not secured and often falls down hindering movement and sight of the patient, or worse, exposing the wearer or patient to contamination.
There have been attempts to provide self-closing garments. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,675,551 discloses an elastic plastic hoop that encircles the waist and supports a garment. The hoop is designed to be an oval form with slightly overlapping ends. The hoop embraces the body and the material, with time and the effect of body heat, will relax sufficiently to conform to the shape of the wearer. Thus, the hoop is designed for long-term wear and has an initial diameter of between about 17″ and 29″ and will expand to about 24″ to 33″ inches.
U.S. Published Application No. 2005/0044608 describes a self-donning medical gown that utilizes one or two curved closure members of a rigid or semi-rigid material. The closure members are operably affixed to and extend laterally across the entire gown body. Pressing or manipulating the closure members at the front of the gown causes the ends of the closure members in the back of the gown to be pushed together forcing the opening in the back of the gown to close. Various types of capturing techniques can be used to keep the gown closed once the edges are in contact.
While these devices fulfill their respective objectives, their bulky or elongated configurations can make them difficult to package or store. Some still require a considerable amount of time to secure or only cover a portion of the wearer.
The need for a full-length disposable medical gown that can be quickly donned and secured without assistance is evident. A greater need exists for a disposable medical gown with compact, self-closing structures that can be easily packaged and stored. What is especially required is a garment with self-closing structures that can be quickly and safely placed around the body, particularly around the neck.